Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. “Beginning of the End” Review

15May

Good day to you ladies and gents of the interweb, after all this time we’ve come to the end of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with episode 22 entitled“Beginning of the End“. Ever since the introduction of Hydra things have definitely been heating up in the story department and AoS has hit its stride, can it continue into the final episode and gives us a satisfying conclusion? Read on and find out.

As usual in these reviews I’m just gonna present the plot and then say what I liked and what I didn’t like. Cool? Okay let’s keep going.

The Plot

Dark secrets are revealed as Coulson and his team put everything on the line to stop Garrett and the forces of HYDRA.

What I Liked

All I have to say is thank god they didn’t mess this episode up. The season finale of AoS was not only good but it was also one of the best episodes of the series. This was some solid TV here and I feel like there was loads to love in this episode with the various story plot points, different emotional moments, character development and cool action sequences. There is just an immense level of satisfaction you get as a viewer as so many of these different plot points and characters finally come together in an epic kind of way and still leaves so much more to be followed up on in the next season. I think this episode has a lot of the best moments of the entire series, the humour finally works most of the time, Coulson finally feels like the guy us fans fell in love with in the films and the set ups for the future are pretty cool.

Here’s some of my highlights:

Fitz and Simmons Under the Sea: Honestly this was my favourite part of the show. There is just something about people who are the imminent danger who also confess their feelings for each that just gets me every time. After seeing these two get dropped in the ocean that there’d be some danger and drama, but I didn’t expect it to play out like that. For a minute it looked like things were completely hopeless, then the two find a way out, but then that glimmer of hope is ruined when Fitz says that only one of them can leave alive. Having Fitz ready to sacrifice his life for Simmons shows just how much he cares and how courageous he is too, but we also see how much Simmons cares for him saying that she didn’t want to leave him. Also Fitz finally told Simmons how he felt, THANK GOD! Dude finally grew balls and it worked so well in that scene. Both Elizabeth Henstridge and Iain De Caestecke’s acting was incredible and very believable, the moments between those two were very emotional.

The Return of Nick Fury the Badass: Ah Samuel L. Jackson, you’re just one of the best guys ever and seeing you return in this episode just makes me smile. His return was just incredibly badass, coming down to save FitzSimmons in the ocean was cool. Also seeing him and Coulson together on-screen was beautiful and the two had great chemistry especially when they were talking during Garrett’s mad speeches and I’m glad that Coulson got to address his whole revival with Fury even if it was done mainly off-screen. Then there’s the moment when Coulson was appointed new director of SHIELD which was a powerful and important moment, I loved Fury’s words about taking time to rebuild and that he’d still be everywhere.

Garrett’s Grand Day Out: Garrett in this episode pretty much sounded crazy with all his talk of the future, ruling the world and monologuing while people aren’t really paying attention. Also seeing him kill one of the military guys was so brutal and badass and then there’s the moment when he knocked the wind of Coulson, kick ass. And of course there’s that moment at the end of the episode when he just rises up and gets that armoured suit and looks like he’ll return as a villain, but then is blown into oblivion by Coulson. That was totally unexpected and frigging funny as hell.

Action Galore: This episode went pretty hardcore with the action with the hand-to-hand combat and fire fights, from Coulson and Triplett’s assault on Cybertek to May vs. Ward and then seeing Garrett in action too. Seeing Coulson and Triplett together was great, the way they were vibing while taking on the bad guys was awesome. But what was even cooler was May and Ward going at it, that fight was really dynamic, there was wall-crashing, makeshift weaponry and some brutal punches and gets delivered, best part was when May shot Ward in the foot with a nail gun, badass!

Agent Koenig, Yay!: Man after seeing my boy Patton Oswalt get taken out a few episodes ago I never expected to see him again, but the moment when he appeared again gave me an immense amount of joy. But what’s even more interesting is the fact that this guy must be one of the life model decoys, his lines of dialogue were exactly the same, however this Agent Koenig had a different name. Robot!

Raina Knows Skye’s Father: Besides Raina’s conversations with Garrett that suggests she’s more than just a human, knowing that she actually knows Skye’s father who is some dodgy, bloody-handed man sitting in some dimly lit location makes for me so excited and curious to know who it is. I have no idea, however I am sure that the dude is dangerous and is probably come into play as a villain next season and at least we know where Raina’s alliance lies too.

What I Disliked

Well as for the stuff I didn’t like as usual its nitpicking at best but it is still stuff worth mentioning. First and foremost, WHERE’S MY GRAVITONIUM? Annoyingly my Gravitonium was once again just side-lined and wasn’t used for anything. Now I understand in the grand scheme of things there’s not really as place for the stuff especially the way the story was going and I’m glad Quinn still has it, however the fact that it was introduced in episode 3, left for ages, rediscovered in episode 18 and then has no major development in the season at all is really disappointing for me considering the source material it’s based on. One other thing I had hoped for was more of a showdown with Garrett, now don’t get me wrong, what was on display was cool, but I had just hoped for more. Also is it wrong that I wanted either Fitz or Simmons to die in this episode? While I love them as characters, I like it when shows take risks and kill main characters because it really adds drama.

Conclusion

In conclusion “Beginning of the End” is a great episode and is a very good end to this series. This episode had a great combination of action, drama and foreshadowing and it was handled smartly. There was so much to like and appreciate like the small character moments with Fitz and Simmons, seeing May unleashed her fury on Ward, John Garrett’s crazy yet awesome speeches and the return of Nick Fury. While there are still some questions left unanswered, overall this was a strong episode and I can’t wait to see what happens in season 2.

Rating: 9/10

So what did you think of “Beginning of the End“? Was it everything you wanted, were you disappointed or did you want more? Whatever your thoughts drop them in the comments below and I’ll see ya again for my season review! 😀

2 responses to “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. “Beginning of the End” Review”

Your favourite part of the finale was mine as well. Pretty cool how much I grew to like Fitz and Simmons considering in the first four or five episodes some fans were calling for their heads. I also thought Gravitonium would be let loose since it was set up early on and reintroduced before the finale. There’s good action but I agree it would have been nice to physically get Garrett and Deathlok into the action more. Oh and so happy that’s Agent Koenig is back!

Awesome, they’ve really grown on people to be two of the best in the show and in this episode it was such a beautiful moment between the two of them. My poor Gravitonium, guess we’ll have to wait until next season for it. 😦 And hell yeah Agent Koenig, legend, love that guy.